Suffolk Park sets real estate pace

THE beachside suburb of Suffolk Park is emerging as a jewel in the Northern Rivers real estate crown.

Figures published on the Property Monitor website show Suffolk Park units fetched the highest median price for the region for sales in the 12 months to February.

Suffolk Park has attracted unflattering nicknames in the past and has been seen as Byron Bay’s poor relation, but the sales figures put the laidback suburb more than $100,000 ahead of its more famous neighbour.

The median price for units in Suffolk Park is $535,000, according to Property Monitor – well in front of units in Byron Bay, which sit on $430,000.

Prices for Byron Shire are given as $434,000.

Byron is also beaten by Lennox Head for unit sales prices. Lennox recorded a median price of $447,000.

Median prices for units across Ballina Shire were $320,000.

Sharon McInnes, of LJ Hooker in Byron Bay, said there had been a run on properties in Suffolk in the past year, because they offered good quality for the money.

One unit being auctioned soon had been fully renovated and was a ‘state-of-the-art’ apartment, she said.

An unrenovated unit in the same complex achieved $625,000 in February.

Suffolk Park had everything a buyer or an investor could ask for, she said. It was close to a quiet beach and had a supermarket, pub and pizza parlour.

Ms McInnes said units generally were proving popular because many people were downsizing and choosing a home that was easier to maintain.

But Lennox Head is likely to offer sellers a shorter waiting time before they can close a deal.

For all properties, including houses, a Lennox seller can expect to wait for 169 days before a sale – although that time drops to 145 across Ballina Shire.

For units, the waiting time across Ballina Shire is a mere 104 days.

Byron unit sellers will have to wait 238 days, according to Property Monitor.

Thirteen units and 68 houses were sold in Lismore during the year to February.

Top price for a property was $2.78 million, but median prices for houses were less spectacular. In central Lismore, median house prices were $269,000 ($308,000 for the Lismore government area) and units $215,000 ($230,000).